Brian Houston looks to add the Mayhem Promotions title to his collection at ‘ITS SHOWTIME 3’

The show continues to grow and attract a huge following. Local fans present one of the best fighting atmospheres’ in the country and this fight card is packed with a number of quality bouts.

The main event sees Brian Houston (Mayhem Martial Arts) take on Chris Meaney (Newry Muay Thai) for Mayhem Promotions first ever title belt at 84kg.

Derry is known for producing top fighters and Brain ‘Bam Bam’ Houston is the latest prospect to burst on to the scene having won both Irish junior and senior titles, Commonwealth, European and World kickboxing titles.

Unbeaten in all competitions (12-1-0) and coming off the back of an Irish K1 title victory in his last fight, the Derry native exudes confidence going into this fight.

Fighting for the first ever Mayhem Promotions belt may be one of his biggest challenges but Brian is relishing the opportunity.

“It feels good because I’m representing my own club and they’re running the show. It’s going to be a cracker of a show! There’ll be 600 people at it and we’ll have a great fight card. The boys in Mayhem have been training hard and flat out so I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

This will be his first ever fight without shin guards but having competed for ‘world kickboxing titles’ in the past, Brian is not fazed by the occasion.

Fighting in front of a home crowd always deliver a great atmosphere. Houston said, “It’s a great feeling. I’ve done it three or four times before so it’s nothing new to me. I’m not worried about the pressure and I’ll be fairly confident going into it because I’ve won in every other fight here.”

Chris Meaney will present a tough challenge and brings with him a lot of experience having fought in both MMA and kickboxing.

“I don’t really know much about him. I watched a video of him but that’s all. I’ve heard he’s a good fighter and I’ve nothing against him. He’s meant to have very heavy hands but that’s nothing I can’t deal with,” said Houston.

“I’m expecting him to swing for defences and try to take my head off. You never really know what they’ll do; I never really study fighters, I prefer to go in and do my own thing.”

Brian said that he is ‘expecting to win the fight’. “I’m not going in there looking for a knockout; if I get it then it’ll be a bonus. I see myself winning it whether it lasts the three rounds or I get the knockout. I’m not too fussed as long as I get the win.”

Now five weeks into his training camp Houston explained that ‘training has been going brilliantly’. “I’ve had some great sparring sessions. I’ve been sparring with the likes of Steve Owens, Damien Duddy and I’m heading up to Belfast this weekend to spar with Conor Murphy. I’m happy with my progress.”

As a young fighter there is always room to improve and Brain admits that he’s ‘always learning and travelling around gyms to spar with different people’.

“If I see something that another fighter is doing and I like it then I’ll ask them how the technique is done and I’ll start practicing it. Even when I’m not fighting I’m constantly learning new skills.”

He’s been sparring with SBG’s Steve Owens and this has been very beneficial for both fighters. Steve will fight Dawid Blaszke at ‘ITS SHOWTIME 3’ and Brain gave us his prediction for the fight.

“No less than a win. Steve’s confidence is through the roof at the minute and I can’t see him being beat.”

Every fighter who has fought in Derry knows that the home crowd is one of the best in the country. On 5th March it will be no different and Houston told us what you can expect on the night.

“You’ll never see anything like the home crowd in Derry. Every time you go to a Derry show there’s nothing like the crowd especially kickboxing shows. Any show that we’ve run in the past has been a sell-out. There’s no doubt that this one won’t be the same. The crowd is mental; it’s hard to describe the atmosphere,” he said.